But satisfied employees are 12% more productive in their workplace -- and that productivity can certainly rub off on others in your office.

As a boss, project leader, or manager, you need to know how to motivate your employees. It's up to you to set the example for behavior, productivity, attitude, customer interactions...pretty much everything.

Even if you think company morale is at an all-time high in your business, there might be a few things you're missing.

In this post, we'll tell you the top 6 leadership trends you need to start using in 2018 to keep your business booming and ensure your employees know exactly what's expected of them.

1. An Increased Focus On Company Culture

One of the biggest leadership trends of 2018 is an increased sense of collaboration between bosses and employees.

Of course, sometimes the differences in titles can make the thought of more open communication with leadership intimidating to lower-level employees.

However, when every employee feels they can come to you with ideas on how to streamline work, let you know when an idea or process isn't working, or pitch you an idea, you'll see benefits across the board.

First, employees will want to work harder for a place they feel values them. Additionally, you'll uncover skills you didn't know your employees had -- potentially eliminating the need for more hiring. Finally, you'll be able to re-route projects that are headed for disaster earlier than ever, saving you time and money.

So how do you open these lines of communication?

By emphasizing company culture. This means more after-work happy hours and trips, so your employees and you can get to know one another on a more personal level.

It also means having a clear "brand," that makes your company's values and mission obvious to everyone, so there's no room for misinterpretation.

2. An Increased Sense of Transparency

Gone are the days of "closed-door meetings" that make everyone else in the office nervous.

Some companies have even started live-streaming their meetings over social media! While you don't have to take it that far, it's smart to shift your leadership to a style that focuses on transparency.

It helps build a "we're all in this together" mentality among your employees, and you may even find your employees have a solution to the problem.

Think more frequent team meetings where everyone has a chance to speak and share their ideas.

3. Employee Recognition

If employees don't feel that their work is valued, they'll leave your company in a hurry.

While many bosses and leaders blame millennials for "job-hopping," far fewer understand that the reason for these frequent career shift might be poor management and continually under-valuing employees.

Employee recognition is one of the biggest leadership trends of 2018. While you don't need to applaud your employees every time they complete an average workday, if someone lands a new client or closes a big deal, send around an email to let everyone know.

Always give credit to employees who came up with ideas you use by name, and consider celebrating your employees with a yearly dinner.

4. Incentive Programs That Don't Put Quality At Risk

This year, leadership finally found a way to incentivize employees in a way that doesn't put the quality of work at risk.

Instead of focusing on numbers and productivity when it comes to your incentive programs, this year the focus is on quality.

For example, instead of creating an incentive program around which employee won the most clients, base it around the employees who found the client that has the best long-term potential.

Or, reward the employee that wrote the best project management plan, not the one who completed the most projects.

5. An Increase in Accountability

One of the biggest leadership trends this year is an increased sense of accountability.

We all make mistakes in the workplace -- but too often, a fear of losing their jobs or taking on all the blame causes your employees to cover up these mistakes.

This just leads to more work for everyone in the long run.

This year, that accountability starts from the top. As a leader, you need to be the first one to own up to your mistakes. Whether it's a budgeting error, a lost account, or even a rude comment you made, acknowledging your own mistake encourages others to do the same.

6. A Focus on Professional Development for Current Employees

Last on our list of leadership trends?

An option that lets you save money and helps your employees to feel valued.

This year, we see more companies than ever investing in developing the skills of their current employees. You might initially balk at the cost of a graphic design course or a continuing education program in HR training.

However, the reality is that it's far cheaper to strengthen the skill set of your current employees than it is to hire a new one.

Whether you pay for an online course to teach your tech-savvy employee how to code or let your creative employee enroll in a writing class so they can create blog posts, you'll only benefit your business by developing your employees' skills.

Use These Leadership Trends To Create A Productive Work Environment

Thanks to this post, the final few months of 2018 are shaping up to be your most profitable ever.

Use these 6 leadership trends for the rest of this year and in the future to ensure you're providing an ideal example for your employees to follow. Encourage open communication, positivity, and mutual respect to see your business continue to expand.

Of course, even the best leadership skills in the world can't always fix a poor hiring decision. Make sure you're working with only the best candidates and employees by relying on our recruitment services.

And if you're among the half of employees not satisfied with their current place of work, you can upload your resume to our site to change a situation and find a place where your skills are appreciated.